Dave Ross

All posts tagged with non-fiction

42 posts found

Palestinian Walks

Raja Shehadeh’s Palestinian Walks is a series of reflective essays about moving through the landscapes of the West Bank and Gaza region, where walking becomes both a practical act and a way of thinking. Rather than writing conventional travel reportage, Shehadeh treats the route itself as a narrative device—using roads, paths, hills, fields, and ruins to explore how everyday geography is shaped by politics, memory, and loss. The book’s atmosphere is quiet and observant, with the ordinary details of terrain...

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In Xanadu

A travel adventure to commemorate Marco Polo’s journey along the Silk Road, Scottish historian (Cambridge student at the time he took this journey), William Dalrymple, uses older historic narratives and maps to help guide him and fellow travelers from the Holy Land to Xanadu (Shan-tu, just north of Beijing). Dalrymple's more recent book, The Golden Road posits that Indian ships were a more economical and vital trade route than the better known (and slower) land route of the Silk Road....

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Things Become Other Things

This is a great book to own in its physical form, as numerous photos are interspersed throughout the essays on the natural beauty of Japan’s Kii Peninsula and its disappearing villages and life. A map plots Mod’s route along the eastern coastline, through once-thriving villages, many now reduced in many areas to a few kissas (akin to diners, though much smaller and offering a far sparser menu than their counterparts in, say, New Jersey), some ryokans here and there, and...

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Hitch-22

Christopher Hitchens reflects on his upbringing, the influences that shaped him, and the philosophical foundations of his worldview. The memoir serves as both a personal narrative and a broader commentary on culture, politics, and belief. One of the book’s strengths is Hitchens’ engaging writing style. His eloquence and command of language draw readers in, making complex ideas accessible. His vivid storytelling, combined with sharp wit and humor, keeps the narrative lively and compelling. We are treated to a rich tapestry...

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The Wager

I first heard of David Grann when he was a guest on Paul Giamatti’s and Stephen Asma’s podcast, Chinwag. At that time, Grann had just come out with a book of essays called The Devil and Sherlock Holmes, which I read and enjoyed in 2024. Grann is also the notable author of the book that Scorcese’s award-winning film Killers of the Flower Moon is based on. The Wager, which I’ve begun reading, and am in the grip of, is about...

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Stanley and Me

A biography penned by the director’s Man Friday, what we’d call today a personal assistant, I guess. Before taking on that job, Emilio D’Alessandro was a down and out taxi driver who just happened upon the famous director one day when Kubrick was tired of dealing with the regular crew of drivers he had. He asked D’Alessandro if he could be his driver full time. From then on, duties continually increased along with being close to the director, who had...

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Hunter of Stories

By Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano and published posthumously, Hunter of Stories offers glimpses into hidden histories, mythologies, and the untold crimes inflicted on indigenous peoples by European explorers and later by large nation-states seeking to exploit the natural resources and workers. Galeano’s idealism comes through even as he retells hard histories in one- or two-page-long chapters. As he notes in one of the stories, “Why not write the big story of the past by telling the little one?” Two samples,...

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Open Veins of Latin America

The Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent by Eduardo Galeano is a seminal work that examines the historical and socio-economic exploitation of Latin America. First published in 1971, it combines history, economics, and personal narrative to provide a critical perspective on the continent’s colonial and post-colonial experiences. Historical Context Galeano begins with the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1492, marking the start of a relentless exploitation of Latin America’s resources. He details how...

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The Devil and Sherlock Holmes

The Devil & Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Murder, Madness & Obsession is a collection of essays by David Grann, who known for writing Killers of the Flower Moon . They are all true tales (some solved, others less so), and the featured essay is my favorite, as I’ve been a fan of the great detective from a young age. Watched all the PBS episodes with my family and when they were only part way through, borrowed my father’s collection of...

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The Captive Mind

The Captive Mind by Czesław Miłosz external link . Essays out of central Europe during the First Cold War by one of Poland’s leading intellectuals. The Captive Mind is divided into four parts. Each part examines a different mindset adopted by intellectuals in response to the oppressive political environment. Miłosz analyzes the impact of communist ideology on the human psyche. He delves into how intellectuals compromised their beliefs, suppressed their individuality, and conformed to the demands of the ruling regimes....

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The Return

When Hisham Matar was a nineteen-year-old university student in England, his father went missing under mysterious circumstances. Hisham would never see him again, but he never gave up hope that his father might still be alive. Twenty-two years later, he returned to his native Libya in search of the truth behind his father’s disappearance. The Return : Fathers and Sons and the Land in Between is the story of what he found there. The Pulitzer Prize award for Best Biography...

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Oranges

John McPhee wrote Oranges in 1967. It delves into the world of Florida’s citrus industry, providing a comprehensive exploration of the orange farming and processing business. The book offers a detailed and informative look at the history, science, and economics behind the cultivation, harvesting, and distribution of oranges. McPhee introduces fun facts for aranciophiles . Such as why harvesters treat themselves to fruit from the top of the trees and only eat the top halves. Oranges are sweetest where they...

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Both Flesh and Not

Both Flesh and Not: Essays is a collection of fifteen essays by American author David Foster Wallace published posthumously in 2012. It is Wallace’s third essay collection. Apart from the essay on Roger Federer, the rest are Wallace hitting serves past the line.

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The Periodic Table

Primo Levi’s Periodic Table is a group of autobiographical episodes of the author’s experiences as a Jewish-Italian doctoral-level chemist under the Fascist regime and afterward. They include various themes that follow a chronological sequence. His ancestry at the start. Then his studies of chemistry and practical use of the studies in wartime Italy. A pair of imaginative tales he wrote at that time, and his subsequent experiences as an anti-Fascist partisan follow. Subsequently, a piece about his arrest and imprisonment,...

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Republic

The revised edition of Grube’s classic translation of Plato’s Republic follows and furthers Grube’s noted success in combining fidelity to Plato’s text with natural readability while reflecting the fruits of new scholarship and insights into Plato’s thought since the publication of the first edition in 1974. Divided into ten books, each book of The “Republic” addresses different aspects of the ideal state. In Book I, Socrates engages in a dialogue with several characters, including Glaucon and Adeimantus, to examine the...

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A Walker in the City

Alfred Kazin’s classic portrait of immigrant life in the early decades of the twentieth century, A Walker in the City is a tour of tenements, subways, and synagogues—but also a universal story of the desires and fears we experience as we try to leave our small, familiar neighborhoods for something new. With vivid imagery and sensual detail—the smell of half-sour pickles, the dry rattle of newspapers, the women in their shapeless flowered housedresses—Alfred Kazin recounts his boyhood walks through this...

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Intimations

Zadie Smith authored Intimations , which was published in 2020 amidst the global COVID-19 pandemic. The book reflects on the unprecedented times and offers Smith’s observations and reflections on various aspects of life during this period. The essays in “Intimations” touch on a range of topics, including the impact of the pandemic, racial injustice, social inequality, and the role of art in times of crisis. Smith explores the ways in which the pandemic has exposed and exacerbated existing societal issues,...

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My Wicked, Wicked Ways

Known to millions as the preeminent swashbuckler of the silver screen, Errol Flynn was a complex man who lived a life far more adventurous than any of his films. In My Wicked, Wicked Ways , Flynn reveals himself to be a self-aware and cosmopolitan devotee of excitement and pleasure. With gusto, he recalls his years as a soldier of fortune in the South Seas, his trip to war-torn Spain, his battles in Hollywood with studio honchos (Jack Warner was a...

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A Swim in the Pond in the Rain

In A Swim in a Pond in the Rain, Saunders shares a version of his writing class with us, offering some of what he and his students have discovered together over the years. Paired with iconic short stories by Chekhov, Turgenev, Tolstoy, and Gogol, the seven essays in this book are intended for anyone interested in how fiction works and why it’s more relevant than ever in these turbulent times. In the introduction of A Swim in a Pond in...

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Design for the Real World

Design for the Real World by Victor Papanek is a classic anyone involved in design can benefit from. In this edition, Victor Papanek examines the attempts by designers to combat the tawdry, the unsafe, and the frivolous. He provides a blueprint for sensible, responsible, eco-friendly design in this world which is deficient in resources and energy. PART ONE: HOW IT IS WHAT IS DESIGN? A definition of the function complex PHYLOGENICIDE: A history of the industrial design profession THE MYTH...

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Impossible Owls - Essays

The essays in Impossible Owls go beyond simply chronicling some of the modern world’s most uncanny, unbelievable, and spectacular oddities. Researched for months and even years on end, they explore the interconnectedness of the globalized world, the consequences of history, the power of myth, and the ways people attempt to find meaning. He searches for tigers in India, and uncovers a multigenerational mystery involving an oil tycoon and his niece turned stepdaughter turned wife in the Oklahoma town where he...

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Riding Toward Everywhere

Riding Toward Everywhere delves into the history and culture of train hopping. Train hopping has its roots in the Great Depression era when many people hopped trains in search of work. Vollmann examines the allure of train hopping as a way to escape society’s constraints and experience a sense of freedom and adventure. He also explores the dangers and risks inherent in this lifestyle. Risks such as encounters with law enforcement, injuries, and the constant uncertainty of where the next...

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My Struggle, Book 2

The narrative of My Struggle Book 2 unfolds through a series of interconnected vignettes, alternating between past and present. Knausgaard reflects on his strained relationship with his father, who is depicted as a distant and mysterious figure. He delves into his insecurities and the challenges he faces as he tries to find his place in the world. One of the themes of My Struggle Book 2 is Knausgaard’s struggle to reconcile personal freedom and artistic expression with the responsibilities of...

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My Struggle, Book 1

My Struggle Book 1 is the first volume of Karl Ove Knausgaard’s autobiographical series, originally published in Norwegian in 2009. The book is a deeply introspective and honest exploration of Knausgaard’s personal life, relationships, and struggles. It delves into his childhood, his complex relationship with his father, and his journey as a writer. The narrative unfolds in a nonlinear fashion, with Knausgaard reflecting on various episodes from his life. He describes his upbringing in rural Norway, the dynamics within his...

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A Brief History of Time

While A Brief History of Time deals with complex scientific concepts, Stephen Hawking ensures that readers without a scientific background can still grasp the main ideas. He uses vivid examples and analogies, such as comparing the expansion of the universe to the motion of raisins in a rising loaf of bread, to make abstract concepts more relatable. Hawking takes readers on a journey through the history of cosmology, from ancient Greek philosophers to modern scientific theories. He explores key concepts...

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Capital in the Twenty-First Century

Capital in the Twenty-First Century is a comprehensive book written by French economist Thomas Piketty and published in 2013. The book examines the dynamics of wealth and income inequality, exploring their causes, consequences, and potential solutions. Piketty argues that the rate of return on capital tends to be higher than the rate of economic growth. This leads to a concentration of wealth in the hands of a few. He presents extensive historical data from various countries to support this claim,...

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Homage to Catalonia

The book provides a firsthand account of Orwell’s experiences during the Spanish Civil War, where he served as a soldier in the Republican militia fighting against the Nationalist forces led by General Francisco Franco. Homage to Catalonia begins with Orwell’s arrival in Barcelona in 1936, shortly after the outbreak of the civil war. He joins the Workers’ Party of Marxist Unification (POUM). The POUM is a revolutionary socialist group, which became actively involved in the fight against Franco’s forces. Orwell...

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Voyage Around My Room

Voyage Around My Room is a whimsical and introspective travelogue written by French author Xavier de Maistre and published in 1794. The book takes a unique approach to travel literature by exploring the world within the confines of a single room. The narrator, who is under house arrest for dueling, embarks on a journey of self-discovery and imagination within the boundaries of his own room. He observes and describes the objects, furniture, and artwork in his surroundings, imbuing them with...

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Boswell's Life of Samuel Johnson

The Life of Samuel Johnson is a biography written by James Boswell and published in 1791. It is a comprehensive and influential account of the life of one of the most prominent figures in 18th-century English literature, Samuel Johnson. One of the notable features of Boswell’s Life of Samuel Johnson is the inclusion of numerous conversations and anecdotes. Johnson’s wit, wisdom, and idiosyncrasies are all here. These dialogues provide insights into Johnson’s views on a wide range of topics, including...

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The Complete Short Prose of Beckett

Collected in The Complete Short Prose of Samuel Beckett include “Fizzles,” “Heard in the Dark,” “Ping,” and “The Last Ones.” The Nobel Prize winner Samuel Beckett was one of the most profoundly original writers of the 20th century. He expressed the anguish and isolation of the individual consciousness with a purity and minimalism that have altered the shape of world literature. A tremendously influential poet and dramatist, Beckett spoke of his prose fiction as the “important writing,” the medium in...

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Slouching Towards Bethlehem

Slouching Towards Bethlehem is a collection of essays divided into two sections: “Life Styles in the Golden Land” and “Personals.” In the first section, Joan Didion provides a series of journalistic essays that offer a critical and perceptive look at different aspects of American life. She delves into topics such as the counterculture movement, the Haight-Ashbury district in San Francisco, and the cultural and social dynamics of California. Didion’s writing is characterized by her keen observations, sharp prose, and her...

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The Peregrine

The Peregrine is a nature book written by J. A. Baker and published in 1967. It is a deeply immersive account of the author’s observations of peregrine falcons in the British countryside. Baker divides the book into diary entries spanning several years. During this time, Baker meticulously documents his encounters with these birds of prey. His observations focus on a particular pair of peregrines and their hunting expeditions. Baker’s prose is rich and evocative. It captures the beauty and power...

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To Set Prometheus Free

In 2007 Anthony Grayling external link (Wikipedia bio) wrote Against All Gods, a collection of polemical essays attacking religion. In To Set Prometheus Free he develops those themes more comprehensively. He unpacks the claims and arguments of religious apologists. He summarizes the views of his fellow secularist Bertrand Russell. In particular, he details the controversy over ‘Intelligent Design’ and outlines his personal, naturalistic worldview. In To Set Prometheus Free , Grayling robustly calls for humanity to choose deliverance from religion....

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The Colossus of Maroussi

The Colossus of Maroussi is a travel memoir written by American author Henry Miller and published in 1941. The book chronicles Miller’s experiences traveling through Greece in the late 1930s and his encounters with various people. At its core, The Colossus of Maroussi is a personal exploration of Miller’s deep appreciation for Greece and its people. The narrative is a blend of vivid descriptions, philosophical reflections, and poetic musings. Miller immerses himself in the Greek way of life and the...

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A Contest for Supremacy

A Contest for Supremacy examines the socioeconomic forces at play in US-China relations. I do not share the author’s conclusion, but it’s an engaging book. According to Friedberg, despite its impressive size and population, economic vitality, and drive to upgrade its military, China remains a vulnerable nation surrounded by powerful rivals and potential foes. Understanding China’s foreign policy means fully appreciating these geostrategic challenges, which persist even as the country gains increasing influence over its neighbors. Andrew J. Nathan and...

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Report from the Interior

Report from the Interior is Paul Auster’s memoir and it’s divided into four distinct sections. The first section focuses on Auster’s childhood and early adolescence, recounting his experiences growing up in post-World War II America. He reflects on his move at the age of four into his first house. He recounts his fascination with comic books, movies, and literature, discussing how these cultural artifacts shaped his understanding of the world and influenced his development as a writer. Grass and trees,...

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The Rider

The Rider is a memoir written by Dutch author Tim Krabbé and originally published in 1978. It recounts the author’s personal experience of participating in a cycling race called the Tour de Mont Aigoual. The book takes readers on a journey through the mind of a cyclist as Krabbé narrates his own race experience. He provides a detailed and introspective account of the physical and mental challenges faced during the grueling competition. Krabbé’s writing captures the essence of endurance sports....

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Persepolis

Persepolis is an autobiographical graphic novel written by Marjane Satrapi and published in 2000. It’s about the author’s childhood and adolescence in Iran during the Islamic Revolution and the subsequent Iran-Iraq War. The book begins with Marjane as a young girl growing up in Tehran. She witnesses the cultural and political changes brought about by the Iranian Revolution. Through her eyes, readers witness the imposition of strict Islamic rules and the effects of war on everyday life. As Marjane navigates...

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Man's Search for Meaning

Viktor Frankl, an Austrian psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor wrote Man’s Search for Meaning in 1946. Frankl divides the book into two parts and explores his experiences in Nazi concentration camps. It also goes into his development of logotherapy, a form of psychotherapy focused on finding meaning in life. In the first part, Frankl vividly recounts his time in Auschwitz and other concentration camps during World War II. He reflects on the extreme suffering and dehumanization he and his fellow prisoners...

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What I Talk About when I Talk About Running

Haruki Murakami wrote What I Talk About When I Talk About Running in 2007. Combining reflections on running with personal anecdotes, the book provides insights into Murakami’s experiences as a writer and a long-distance runner. Throughout the memoir, Murakami shares how running has been an integral part of his life and creative process. He discusses his motivations for running, the discipline it requires, and the meditative aspects that allow him to find solace and inspiration. As Murakami reflects on his...

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Consider the Lobster and Other Essays

A few topics covered in Consider the Lobster : Do lobsters feel pain? Did Franz Kafka have a funny bone? What is John Updike’s deal, anyway? And what happens when adult video starlets meet their fans in person? David Foster Wallace answers these questions and more in essays that are also enthralling narrative adventures. Whether covering the three-ring circus of John McCain’s 2000 presidential race, plunging into the wars between dictionary writers, or confronting the World’s Largest Lobster Cooker at...

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Stranger Shores

Two-time Booker Prize-winner J. M. Coetzee is one of the world’s greatest novelists and in Stranger Shores he turns his gaze on those who have influenced him. This thought-provoking collection gathers twenty-six of his essays on books and writing. In his opening piece, “What Is a Classic?”, Coetzee asks, “What does it mean in living terms to say that the classic is what survives?” He explores the answer by way of T. S. Eliot, Johann Sebastian Bach, and Zbigniew Herbert....

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